Opinion + Sachin Tendulkar | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree+sport/sachin-tendulkar
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Sachin Tendulkar's retirement was India's Princess Diana moment | Ian Jackhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/22/sachin-tendulkar-retirement-indias-princess-diana
In Mumbai this week, it was sometimes necessary to be reminded that Sachin Tendulkar had not in fact died, but merely given up playing international cricket<p>'Sir, there is a shooting!" The room boy stood at the window looking down at the street, so I&nbsp;got off my bed and looked, too, expecting a body or a commotion of some sort. What I saw instead were a few TV technicians setting up spotlights and cameras on the&nbsp;hotel's broad terrace and getting the angles right with the help of a stand-in, who turned this way and that on his chair to simulate what the real subject would do when he eventually sat there. "They are shooting Saurav Ganguly," the room boy said, and then on his smartphone showed me a picture of himself standing with the former India cricket captain in one of the hotel's corridors. Not only was Ganguly living in the same hotel, he was staying in the very next room! I felt almost as impressed as the room boy (who wasn't a boy but a man; the demeaning description comes from a different era, and any minute now will probably take the leap to "room curator", though the wages and the bed-making and bathroom-cleaning will stay the same).</p><p>We watched as Ganguly replaced his impersonator on the terrace and turned to his interviewer. "Live!" said the room boy, so I turned on the TV, hoping to find the conversation that, from the room, could be seen but not heard. But out of India's 515 TV stations, Mumbai has nearly 100, and, out of that 100, more than a dozen are devoted to sport. Several channels had not just one cricketer, but whole panels of them, discussing the same questions. What made him so good? Was he a god or merely a genius? How much would Indian cricket miss him? Could his achievements ever be equalled? His English mother-in-law appeared in one of these "debates" – they were really prolonged bouts of hero-worship – to say quietly that, whatever else, he wouldn't be retiring as her son-in-law: a&nbsp;rare moment of humour, as well as a reminder that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/nov/16/sachin-tendulkar-cricket-india-test-match" title="">Sachin Tendulkar hadn't in fact died but merely given up playing international cricket</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/22/sachin-tendulkar-retirement-indias-princess-diana">Continue reading...</a>CricketSportSachin TendulkarWorld newsFri, 22 Nov 2013 16:45:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/22/sachin-tendulkar-retirement-indias-princess-dianaPhotograph: Rajanish Kakade/APSymbols of change … A fan pays tribute to Tendulkar. Photograph: Rajanish Kakade/APPhotograph: Rajanish Kakade/APSymbols of change … A fan pays tribute to Tendulkar. Photograph: Rajanish Kakade/APIan Jack2013-11-22T16:45:00ZUnthinkable? Honours even | Editorialhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/apr/02/unthinkable-honours-even-editorial
Is it to be imagined that Sachin Tendulkar should fail in Mumbai, to emerge a World Cup winner<p>Is it really to be imagined that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2011/apr/01/sachin-tendulkar-india-world-cup-final" title="">Sachin Tendulkar</a>, one of the greatest batsmen in the history of the game – and one capable, as we saw against Pakistan, even when playing erratically and repeatedly being dropped, of making 85 runs and emerging as man of the match – should fail on this day in his home town, Mumbai, to emerge a World Cup winner, and possibly with his 100th international century under his belt? Even were he to fail, then surely some other Indian star – the rampaging Virender Sehwag, perhaps, or Yuvraj Singh, with his knack of coming up with something decisive when it's needed – would do the job for him. And yet is it really conceivable that a second of the world's greatest cricketers, even when struggling with injury, should fail, if he plays – and they may not be able to stop him – to stamp the name <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2011/apr/01/muttiah-muralitharan-sri-lanka-final" title="">Muttiah Muralitharan</a> on the result? Or that tested performers like the valiant wicketkeeper-opener captain Kumar Sangakkara, from a nation which may remember that a generation ago Sri Lanka was deemed by many English wiseacres unfit for test cricket, should fail to ensure&nbsp;that he leaves on a winning note? For Murali, at 39 – as for now-retiring captains Ricky Ponting, Andrew Strauss and Daniel Vettori, and very likely too for Tendulkar, who'll be 41 in 2015 – it is going to be the commentary box next time. On that basis, the non-aligned, which of course after last weekend includes the English, ought&nbsp;perhaps to hope for a tie. But that surely is truly unthinkable.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/apr/02/unthinkable-honours-even-editorial">Continue reading...</a>Sachin TendulkarCricket World Cup 2011India cricket teamSri Lanka cricket teamCricketSportFri, 01 Apr 2011 23:01:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/apr/02/unthinkable-honours-even-editorialEditorial2011-04-01T23:01:09ZLeader: In praise of ... Sachin Tendulkarhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/oct/18/sachin-tendulkar
<p>It came in the first ball after tea, often an auspicious moment. For it was then that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/sachin-tendulkar">Sachin Tendulkar</a> became Test cricket's leading run-scorer, exceeding the 11,953 runs made by Brian Lara. The first day of India's second Test with Australia came briefly to a standstill as fireworks went up, the crowd rose in standing ovation and the Australian team came to congratulate him. But the man himself only briefly looked up to the heavens. Tendulkar's greatness has been much foretold, not least by those whose standing in the game he now challenges. Lara said of him: "You know genius when you see it. And let me tell you, Sachin is pure genius." Cricket's greatest ever batsman, Sir Donald Bradman, had the same reaction. Watching him bat in a 1996 World Cup match on television, the Australian summoned his wife into the living room and asked her whom he reminded her of. The man on the screen reminded Bradman of himself. The little genius, as he is known, has his critics. He is known as an efficient rather than elegant run-scorer and has sometimes been accused of playing for the record book rather than his team. He has had less stellar playing moments as well. But he retains the enduring respect of bowlers round the world. Asked what went through his head when he scored a century, he replied that he allowed himself to be happy but not satisfied. Satisfaction, he said, was like engaging the handbrake and hoping the car will move forward. Happily for the game, Tendulkar is still racing on.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/oct/18/sachin-tendulkar">Continue reading...</a>India cricket teamCricketSportSachin TendulkarFri, 17 Oct 2008 23:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/oct/18/sachin-tendulkarLeader2008-10-17T23:01:00Z